


act two

by acedott



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, by god they WILL talk about their emotions, im a spanish canon truther, just this once everybody lives, the cw sucks so ill explore the nature of destiel for them i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29393970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acedott/pseuds/acedott
Summary: How the conversation at the pie festival should have gone.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	act two

"I'm thinking about Cas, you know? Jack. If they could be here."

"Yeah. Yeah, no. I think about 'em, too." Dean swallowed. "Cas said something to me before the Empty took him."

"Yeah? What'd he say?"

Dean took a deep breath. "He told me he loved me."

"Oh. Wow. What did you say to that?"

"I said it back. I couldn't - I had to tell him. At least once."

Sam looked at him briefly before looking away. "How are you feeling?"

Dean scrubbed a hand down his face. "The Empty didn't show up until _after_ I said it back, so I mostly just feel like I killed the love of my life."

Sam raised his eyebrows at that admission, but didn't press.

"I thought we had more time to figure our crap out. Even with the insane life we have, I always thought we'd work it out before it came to this."

"Why _did_ it take so long?" he asked gently.

"I thought I was confused at first." Dean laughed softly, bitterly. "I thought, 'He just raised me from hell, it makes sense I'm having some warm and fuzzies about the guy.' Then I thought it was just some kinda midlife crisis. When I finally realized I was in-" he clenched his jaw, unable to say it again, "I knew that he felt the same, obviously. I just didn't wanna corrupt him even more. He's...he _was_ an angel _._ An angel being with a human, there's no coming back from something like that."

"Dean," Sam started pityingly.

"Don't," he interrupted wearily. "Whatever you're about to say, I just can't right now."

"Okay. Whatever you need."

"What I need is more pie and less of this touchy-feely shit."

He looked skeptically at the tray full of pie slices. " _More_ pie?"

"Shut up," Dean mumbled around a mouthful of key lime.

Sam huffed a laugh and leaned against the bench.

Dean wanted to scream and cry and celebrate saving the world all at the same time. Losing people was never easy, and losing Cas was always gut wrenching. But with nothing to hunt and no apocalypse to stop, he had no outlet besides eating all the pie at this damn festival.

 _Cas, I don't know if you can hear me_ , he prayed, _But I'm lost without you, man. I need you._

"Hello, Dean," a gruff voice said from behind him. He turned around, hope instinctively rising within him.

"Cas," he choked.

"Cas!" Sam looked between the two of them. Cas's eyes hadn't left Dean's. "Good to see you, man. Welcome back. I'll, uh...let you two talk."

Neither Dean nor Cas really registered Sam leaving.

"It's good to see you again, Dean."

"How are you here? How did you get out?"

Cas smiled softly. "Jack. He brought me out of the Empty to rebuild Heaven. I was going to remain there, but...I heard your prayer."

"You always do, huh?" Dean stayed glued to the bench, feeling somehow that if he got up this would all fade away, _Cas_ would fade away. "So. Heaven. How's that going?"

"As well as can be expected." He took a seat next to Dean on the bench, moving the tray of pie to the other side of the bench. His thigh brushed against Dean's as he sat down, radiating warmth, and Dean was so glad he never got the hang of personal space. "Many of the angels don't trust me, and reworking Heaven without severely disorienting the souls in it is a challenge, but I'm pleased with our progress overall."

"Good. That's...good." He was feeling lightheaded and faintly nauseous. He'd never felt so alive. He might throw up.

"And you? How is life without an apocalypse?"

Dean bit back a hysterical laugh. "Yeah, uh, not really sure what to do with myself. Kinda lost here."

"You said as much." Cas tilted his head and looked at him, and Dean's heart raced. He wiped his suddenly sweaty palms on his jeans. "I believe we should talk about what happened."

The nausea ramped up a notch. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess we should."

"I apologize if I've caused you discomfort."

This time, Dean couldn't hold back the hysteria. "Discomfort? Is that what you call dropping a love confession and then vanishing?"

"Dean-"

"No, Cas, this time it's my turn. Look, we haven't exactly been subtle about how we feel, so it's not like it was a world changing news. You said you can sense longing or whatever so I know you've picked up on how I feel about you. But hey," he scoffed bitterly. "We've been a little busy. Dating and exploring my sexuality hasn't been high on my priority list compared to stopping multiple friggin' apocalypses. And I wasn't sure if you even experience human emotions the same way, so I figured we'd just deal with our feelings separately and move on." He poked a finger roughly into Cas's chest, surprised to find his hand trembling. "But for you to say what I've been wanting you to say for _years_ , and then get yourself...That's fucked up, man. How could you do that to me? How could you wait _so long_ and then leave just like everybody else in my life always has? And then not even let me know you're alive?"

Cas wiped away tears Dean hadn't realized had fallen. "I'm sorry, Dean." He left his hand cradling Dean's jaw while the other curled around the finger still on his chest. "I loved you before I knew what love was. The longing, the desire I felt from you," he sighed. "I thought that my own feelings had bled into you when I rebuilt your soul. Acting on them would be unfair to you, since they weren't your true feelings. They weren't real."

"But they were real. They _are_ real, Cas, you gotta know that."

"I do now. When Jack brought me from the Empty, I asked him to remove the parts of me that spread to you. Allow you to live as yourself, without my influence, once again. He said he couldn't do that because, quote, 'Everything of you in him, he chose.'" He removed his hand from around Dean's finger to make air quotes and smiled brokenly. "And I have chosen every part of you that is in me."

Dean gripped the front of Cas's shirt with both hands and crashed their lips together. The position trapped his arms awkwardly between their chests but he couldn't give _less_ of a fuck because he was finally kissing Cas, who was kissing him back just as desperately.

One hand still cradled his jaw, thumb gently swiping away the still falling tears. His other hand came to rest on Dean's thigh, its firm presence dizzying and grounding at the same time. His lips were warm and soft as they slid against Cas's, chaste despite the desperation behind it. Dean let go of the shirt and slid his hands down slowly, relishing how solid and real and _alive_ he was.

"Cas," Dean sighed when he finally full back to breathe. 

"Dean," Cas echoed, eyes still closed in bliss.

"We could've been doing this for _years_ ," Dean lamented breathily. "We really are a couple of dumbasses."

Cas smiled softly. "I prefer the word 'misguided.' Less dumb, less ass." He moved his hand down to Dean's shoulder. "But we made our way to each other eventually."


End file.
